1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a heat pump and a method for controlling the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat pumps are Used as a cooling/heating apparatus to transfer low-temperature heat to a high-temperature side or to transfer high-temperature heat to a low-temperature side, using heat of evaporation of refrigerant or heat of condensation of refrigerant. Such heat pumps are classified into an electric heat pump (EHP) and a gas heat pump (GHP) in accordance with the driving mechanism thereof or are classified into a water source heat pump (waste source heat pump) and a ground source heat pump (GSHP) in accordance with the type of heat source thereof. Also, heat pumps are classified into a hot air heat pump, a cold air heat pump, a hot water heat pump, and cold water heat pump in accordance with the type of heat supply thereof or are classified into a heating heat pump, a cooling heat pump, a dehumidifying heat pump, and a cooling/heating heat pump in accordance with the purpose thereof.
Such a heat pump includes a first heat exchanger, a second heat exchanger, a compressor, a 4-way valve, an expansion valve, an outdoor fan, and an indoor fan. When the heat pump operates in a heating mode, high-temperature and high-pressure refrigerant emerging from the compressor is fed to the second heat exchanger which, in turn, discharges high-temperature heat of the refrigerant to an outside thereof, which is at low temperature. Thus, heating is carried out. On the other hand, when the heat pump operates in a cooling mode, heat is transferred from a low-temperature side to a high-temperature side, using latent heat of evaporation of refrigerant generated in accordance with phase variation through vaporization and liquifying of the refrigerant. Thus, cooling is carried out.
The above-mentioned heat pump is configured to absorb or discharge heat through air streams, which perform heat exchange around the heat exchangers using the fans, namely, in an air stream manner.
However, such a heat pump may have degraded applicability for general purposes in that it does not have a hot water supply function, even though it has a cooling or heating function for a room. To this end, a heat pump capable of supplying hot water has been developed.
The heat pump, which is capable of supplying hot water, may generate hot water through a water-refrigerant heat exchanger, to externally supply the generated hot water or to use the hot water as heating water.
When the hot water is used as heating water, it is supplied to various heating appliances such as a floor heater, a fan coil, and a radiator to heat a desired area.
That is, the above-mentioned heat pump not only performs air stream cooling or heating by lowering or raising the temperature of room air, but also performs cooling or heating using cold water or hot water generated by lowering or raising the temperature of water.
However, when the heat pump performs air stream heating using an air stream indoor system, stratification of indoor air may occur. As a result, the user may feel uncomfortable due to hot air generated during heating operation, and may prematurely feel a chill after the heating operation is stopped.
That is, such a heat pump may have a problem in that the efficiency of sensible heat is low.
When the heat pump performs radiant heating such as floor heating, using hot water, it exhibits superior effects in sensible heat because the radiant heating is carried out in the same manner as a boiler. In this case, however, there may be a problem in that a lot of time is taken until floor heating is achieved.